“We had a solid finish to 2019, delivering our strongest revenue growth of the year in the fourth quarter. This broad-based growth gives us confidence and momentum as we enter 2020.” said Mark W. Begor, Chief Executive Officer of Equifax.

“2019 was a transition year for Equifax as we move back to a more normal growth mode. We made significant progress during the year on our multi-year, $1.25 billion EFX2020 cloud technology transformation including the ongoing migration of our data, analytics, and application infrastructure to cloud native technology, which will accelerate the speed at which we innovate and grow while continuing to strengthen our data security. We also took strong steps to expand our access to unique, differentiated data and our collaboration with our customers and partners to deliver advanced decisioning and data solutions that help them more effectively grow and manage their business.”

The Company reported revenue of $905.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, an 8 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2018 and a 10 percent increase in local currency.

Fourth quarter 2019 diluted EPS attributable to Equifax was $0.07 per share, down from $0.21 per share in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Net income attributable to Equifax of $9.2 million was down from $25.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2018.

For the full year 2019, revenue was $3.5 billion, a 3 percent increase from 2018 and a 5 percent increase in local currency. Diluted EPS attributable to Equifax was a loss of $3.27 per share, down from income of $2.47 per share for the full year 2018. Net loss attributable to Equifax was $398.8 million, down compared to net income of $299.8 million for the full year 2018.

Our results in the fourth quarter of 2019 included a pre-tax legal accrual of $99.6 million for losses associated with certain legal proceedings and government investigations related to the 2017 cybersecurity incident. The charge represents completed settlements and our best estimate of remaining liabilities for the U.S. matters related to the 2017 cybersecurity incident. The impact of this accrual on diluted EPS was $0.68 per share for the fourth quarter.

Source:  Equifax Earnings Release